Protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) are enzymes which catalyse the phosphorylation of specific tyrosine residues in cellular proteins. This post-translational modification of these substrate proteins, often enzymes themselves, acts as a molecular switch regulating cell proliferation, activation, or differentiation. Aberrant or excessive PTK activity has been observed in many disease states including benign and malignant proliferative disorders as well as diseases resulting from inappropriate activation of the immune system (e.g., autoimmune disorders), allograft rejection, and graft vs. host disease. In addition, endothelial-cell specific receptor PTKs such as KDR and Tie-2 mediate the angiogenic process, and are thus involved in supporting the progression of cancers and other diseases involving inappropriate vascularization (e.g., diabetic retinopathy, choroidal neovascularization due to age-related macular degeneration, psoriasis, arthritis, retinopathy of prematurity, and infantile hemangiomas).
The identification of effective small compounds which specifically inhibit signal transduction and cellular proliferation by modulating the activity of tyrosine kinases to regulate and modulate abnormal or inappropriate cell proliferation, differentiation, or metabolism is therefore desirable. In particular, the identification of methods and compounds that specifically inhibit the function of a tyrosine kinase which is essential for antiogenic processes or the formation of vascular hyperpermeability leading to edema, ascites, effusions, exudates, and macromolecular extravasation and matrix deposition as well as associated disorders would be beneficial.